Fresh Start
by sweetluv034
Summary: What happens when a secret from a long time ago finally comes out.
1. Chapter 1

Will paced the room waiting patiently for his mother to enter the room. He had kept putting it off but now it was finally time to tell her his secret. If he didn't he knew EJ would and really didn't want that kind of blowout. The doorbell rang while he waited and since his mother was still tucking Sydney in for her nap he went to answer it. There was a delivery man standing at the door asking for a signature holding a large box and an envelope. After he signed the form and took the stuff inside Sami came downstairs.

When she walked into the room the first thing she noticed were the packages. "Where did those come from?", she asked Will. "Some man just delivered them, there isn't any return address and they say for you and EJ?" "Why would someone send something to me and EJ? There is no me and EJ so if this is some cruel joke not funny." Sami looked at the envelope at least that had just her name on it so she opened it. After scanning the pages her face turned white and she reached for her phone.

"Mom, what's wrong? What did those papers say?" Will begged his mom to answer him instead she handed them to him and dialed her phone. As Will read though the same papers he heard his mother speaking to EJ telling him it was urgent he get to the house. After hanging up the phone Sami just stared off into space for a minute before she remembered the whole reason Will was there.

"Will you said earlier you had something you needed to tell me." "It can wait I mean this is big, what I have to say can wait." "No, you wouldn't have said it was important if it wasn't. Yes this is big but it doesn't make your news any less important and to make you feel better, EJ said it would take him at least 20 minutes to get here so we have plenty of time to talk." Will only hesitated about a minute, he was starting to see the glimpses of his old mom again the one that fully thought only of him.

"Okay, first you need to understand that you are the second person who knows. The first found out and promised to not tell anyone as long as I told you as soon as possible." Sami sat there wondering who it was that knew her son's big news, but remained silent so he could continue. "EJ found out that I was keeping a secret, he also found out what it was." Will was afraid to tell his mother the rest of it, he really didn't know how she would react. Sami realized her son was struggling and did the only thing she knew could help. She pulled him into a hug and told him "Nothing you tell me will change that I love you. No matter what it won't change."

There was a knock at the door and both looked at each other debating just ignoring it. Sami went to answer when the knocking didn't stop and opened it to find EJ standing there quite winded. "I got here as fast as I could are the children all right? Samantha what is going on?" Sami just told him to wait a minute but let him inside. Then she walked back to Will and said, "Okay, now finish telling me what you needed to say." Will realizing EJ was waiting about the package tried to get his mother to focus on that but she remained adamant that he finish before something else interrupted them.

"Okay, I am just going to blurt this out and hope you don't freak. Mom, I am gay." Will braced himself for an emotional storm that he was sure to come. Sami sat there a moment letting it all sink in, once it had she reached over and hugged her son. "This doesn't change who you are or how much I love you. You do need to tell your father though, but you might want to leave out the part about EJ knowing first." He just smiled and couldn't believe how well she was taking this.

"Um I hate to interrupt this moment but can someone please tell me what I am doing here?" Sami picked up the papers and handed them to EJ. "There is a package too but it was addressed to both of us. These were just to me, I needed to you here to see what this is about." After reading through the papers EJ glanced at the package. "Well let's get this opened up shall we? No need to wait for suspense or any of that nonsense." Together the three of them opened the package and peered inside. There was a small box inside and when opened it revealed a smaller one. Inside the smallest box was a disc, as well as a flash drive. There was also a card inside that said watch DVD.

They all sat on the couch after Sami put the disc in the player. Stefano DiMera's face appeared in front of them. "Now before you switch this off, let me be clear that this is no joke. I only did it this way because Elvis has disowned me and if I went the way I wanted he would never forgive me. I discovered some disturbing news the other day while cleaning out and old storage locker that had been abandoned on our property. It turned out to belong to Lucas Horton, but more on that later."

"I discovered that Lucas had committed many crimes over the years that my son had been blamed for. Now before you get angry Samantha understand I verified before bringing you this information and no it is not doctored. I discovered that Lucas had it out for my son not long after you became pregnant with the twins. Yes I do understand why he would hate Elvis for how the twins were conceived but it doesn't make it any better what he did. Yes Samantha I said how the twins were conceived, both of those children belong to my son. Lucas switched the test results on the first but before could switch the second results the lab technician returned."

Will paused the DVD and stared at his mother. "Of all the things for DiMera to pull this has got to be the lowest." Sami just looked at the screen wondering where Stefano got this idea in his head. "Well I for one would like to hear the rest of what my father has to say even if it isn't true. It isn't like it cannot be cleared up with a simple test anyway." The DVD was started up again and they all watched for another 45 minutes while Stefano went into details of all the crimes that Lucas had committed and framed EJ for.

EJ sat there stunned when the DVD was finally stopped, he then looked at the flash drive. "William could you please open this up so we can take a look at it?" Will hesitantly took the drive from EJ and put it in his computer. When the files all loaded he saw they were clearly marked and dated. Stefano had said on the DVD that he would turn over the originals to EJ only if EJ came personally and told him that they believed him. Page after page was more and more proof of Lucas' guilt. Sami walked out of the room and up to Sydney's and watched her daughter sleeping peacefully. Johnny and Allie would be home soon and she didn't know what she should do.

What Sami did know is that they needed to know the truth once and for all. She called Lexi and asked her to come to the house with her medical bag. 30 minutes later Johnny and Allie were sitting in the living room playing a game while Sami and EJ filled Lexi in on the DVD. Lexi understood the need for secrecy about this and went to swab the mouths of Johnny and Allie both. A few minutes after Lexi left Sydney had woken up and wandered downstairs. While all 3 children played Will told Sami that he would keep an eye on them so her and EJ could go somewhere and talk.

After kissing all 3 children Sami promised she would be home soon and went out the door with EJ. They walked toward the park both silent and unsure what to say. At last EJ finally blurted out to her, "If this is all true it makes me want to kill Lucas, you know this right?" "I understand why you would and I am beyond livid with him, but he is still Will's father so please don't do anything to him." "Samantha, if this is all true we need to tell the police or at least your father. Maybe then he won't think I am such a horrible person." Sami wondered why EJ cared so much what her father thought of him but kept it to herself.

They walked around for a while longer discussing what they were going to do if what Stefano says were true. Sami finally looked at EJ and told him to go back to the kids she wanted to go speak to Stefano on her own. After a short debate EJ realized it was pointless to argue and made her promise to be back to her house in an hour. She walked the short distance to the mansion and instead of knocking walked right into the house. Stefano was sitting with his wife in the living room when she burst in. "You know Samantha, it is polite to be invited into someone's home instead of barging in." "Stefano we need to talk and you know why so since I assume it's not exactly common knowledge I think we should go for a walk on the grounds don't you?"

Kate looked back and forth between her husband and her enemy and said, "Anything you have to say to Stefano you can say in front of me." Stefano just stood up and motioned for Sami to lead the way out to the grounds. After they closed the doors and started walking Sami finally broke the silence. "I want to know how long you knew this information. Also why should we believe you?" Stefano paused for a minute before answering her, "If I lied about this Elvis would never forgive me and all I want is my family back. That is why you should believe me, and the storage locker I found on my property and I know for a fact it was put there by my darling wife. Once I prove it you can bet she will be out on her ass. No one betrays my family, no one." "Except you right Stefano? You were the one who brought the 'evidence' to my father against EJ. You were the one who told me he took Sydney. So only you can betray your family?"

Stefano knew there was no point to argue she was right he had betrayed his son. His intention was to make Elvis realize how much he needed Stefano still but it backfired when the evidence didn't hold up because of the source. Sami broke the silence again, "If you need help proving that the locker belonged to Kate I know an easy way to find out. Was there a lock on it when you found it?" "Yes, of course there was but my property can do as I please." After rolling her eyes she said, "Yes but Kate doesn't know you found it but if I end up with it in my possession you know she will claim it."

"I forgot how much you think like a DiMera, what is your plan to get a hold of it?" "First, going to ignore the whole how I am like a DiMera statement. Second, it's simple just have to say EJ sent me for his footlocker and grab that one instead of his. Kate will definitely not let me leave with it so she will have to step up and claim it. Don't think this means anything will change Stefano you are still a bastard in my eyes." Sami walked away with that statement and headed home. She noticed a difference in the house as soon as she walked in.

Then as she walked into the living room she realized why, Luca Roberts Horton sat on the couch. The kids were nowhere in sight and he looked extremely irritated. "Sami, where have you been? Where is Allie? I came to pick her up for a visit and found a note that said taking the kids on a trip for their four day weekend." It took Sami only a minute to realize that Will and EJ must have gone somewhere with the kids. When she glanced at her phone she realized she had a voicemail and a few missed calls, all from Will.

"Just give me a minute to catch my breath will you?" Sami walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water listening to the voicemail along the way. After she heard it all, she walked back to the living room and told Lucas, "Yeah , sorry Allie came home from school today and asked if I could take them all on a camping trip and Will thought it sounded like fun. So I told her we could but Sydney forgot her stuff puppy from EJ so I came back to get it." We will be home on Sunday, if you want to come over then and take her for the night no school till Tuesday anyways." Lucas looked like he was about to have a stroke, "Please tell me that my daughter is not with EJ DiMera right now." "Your daughter is not with EJ honest, but I really have to go Will just sent me a text and Sydney is really missing her puppy. See you on Sunday Lucas."

She drove to the airport where EJ and Will and the children were all waiting. Sami handed the puppy to Sydney and tried to relax. "He was there wasn't he?" "Yeah, had wanted to take Allie for a visit. Told him he could take her Sunday that Allie had wanted to go camping." EJ just pulled her into a hug knowing that nothing he could say would make any of this any better. "I am sorry for all of this Samantha. I wish I could make this better for you." "EJ this isn't your fault, either your father is lying of Lucas did this. Either way, it's not your fault and if what your father claims to be true is actually true you haven't done anything wrong."

The flight was peaceful all the children including Will dozed off halfway. EJ tried to encourage Samantha to sleep with no success. "I can't sleep EJ I will just continue to sit here and think about it all." Knowing that would be the worst thing for her to do he offered her a distraction. "Why don't we play chess? I haven't played in so long and I don't believe you ever have." "Chess reminds me of your father so would rather not play." A sneaky smile crossed EJ's face and Sami realized she said exactly what he had wanted her to. "Speaking of my father, what did you two have to talk about?" "A bit of this and that and an agreement to temporarily work together to bring down a common enemy."

Before EJ could question her any more Sydney cried out. Both parents rushed to her side to see she had fallen on the floor while she slept. Sami picked her up and cuddled her while EJ wrapped his arms around them both. They finished their flight with Sydney snuggled up to her parents and they all slept. When they awoke they were at the island. The children ran out onto the beach and smiled up to the sun. EJ and Sami looked on as Will chased the three smaller children around the beach. No one would guess anything was amiss and that this beautiful family was going through such turmoil.

They spent 3 blissful days on EJ's island, swimming and relaxing and just enjoying the company. Allie and Sydney collected seashells to bring home and Johnny and Will built sandcastles and then knocked them back down. On early Sunday morning, Sami's phone rang and the caller id said it was Lexi. After telling Will they would be right back they walked off a distance and called her right back. "Well I tried coming to you in person but when I got to your house Lucas informed me you took the kids camping so I decided to try your cell phone. We did get the results back just a few minutes ago I had put a rush on it. The tests confirm what father said, both the twins are EJ's children."

They hung up and looked at each other, too stunned for words. Finally Sami spoke up, "EJ we need to decide now what we want to do. This way no matter how angry we get later on we don't do anything rash." "I know but right now all I want to do is make him pay for this. Maybe you should tell me what your plans are with my father maybe that will make up my mind." "Basically today when we go home I plan to go to the mansion and trick Kate into confessing that she has known all along. Then I may just go to my dad and let him take care of it."

EJ agreed that for the benefit of their family it was best to go that route. Sami then went to talk to Will to fill him in, finding him buried in the sand with Allie and Johnny giggling above him. After they dug him out EJ took the kids to the water one last time before they had to leave and Sami told Will what Lexi said and her decision on what to do about it. Will just couldn't believe his dad could do something like this, but agreed with his mom that they had to tell his Grampa Roman about it. They all went to the plan and headed home this time Sami was the first to doze while reading Sydney a story. When EJ saw them both fast asleep he covered them in a blanket and sat beside them watching his children all sleep.

When the plane landed in Salem, Sami told EJ to take the children to his house and told Will he needed to go tell his father what he had told her. Before he could protest she said he was still his father and needed to know before everything else came out. With that she drove to the mansion to follow through with the plan to catch Kate red-handed. She was let in the front door and she walked calmly to retrieve the trunk from where Stefano said it would be. As she started to leave with it Kate and Stefano came into the foyer and Kate froze. "What do you think you are doing with that?" "Um, EJ asked me to come pick up his trunk for him. He is still adamant about staying away from Stefano so I said I would get it." "Well that isn't EJ's so why don't you put it down and leave." Sami looked at Kate as she set it down, "If it isn't his then who does it belong to because I had already asked Rolf and he said it was the only one where EJ said his was." "EJ was mistaken that trunk belongs to me not him so back off." Stefano chose that moment to step in, "Thank you Samantha for confirming what I already knew. My wife is a traitor and is nothing to me anymore. As for that trunk it is yours if you want it I have no need for it anymore."

Sami loaded the trunk into her car and headed straight to the police station where she had already confirmed her father was. Once she arrived at the station she located her father and told him she needed to speak with him and that it was urgent. He took her into his office and closed the door, "Okay, what is this about? Please tell me this has nothing to do with EJ." "It does but it doesn't, see I came into some information a few days ago and got the confirmation that at least some of it is legit." Sami went into detail of everything that had happened since Thursday afternoon. When she finished Roman wanted to see the trunk and its contents so she took him to the car and said it was all his, she didn't want it.

Roman hugged his daughter and asked what she planned to do about this. "I am letting you handle this, so is EJ he promised me that he was just going to focus on trying to figure out how we can make the children understand." After hugging her dad one more time Sami headed for home and let Lucas know everything and ask him to leave. Her plans were shot when she pulled up and heard Lucas yelling at Will. Sami rushed into the house and stopped in her tracks when she saw Will with tears running down his face and a fresh red mark on his cheek. "How dare you strike him!", she bellowed at Lucas before stepping between him and her son.

"Are you kidding me? After what he just told me I am being calm." Sami turned to her son and told him to go to his siblings she would handle this. With a quick hug to his mother and glance to his father Will walked out the front door and drove away. "If you ever strike my son again Lucas I will hunt you down myself. Nothing gives you the right to hit him." Lucas cut her off, "Do you know what he just told me? My son just told me not only is he gay he knows that Allie isn't my daughter. So I want to know from you what in the hell you have been telling him." "Actually, him being gay is not the worst thing on the planet. As for Allie I received a package with proof that you switched the paternity test results. Now before you bother denying it we verified that you did Allie is EJ's daughter according to the test results. I am giving you a heads up, I already turned over everything to my father and if you think your mother can help you out of this one. She is dealing with the wrath of Stefano because of all of this. Now get out of my house and don't come back."

With that Sami walked out the front door and went to go get her children. When she got to EJ's house she sat in the car a few minutes longer and called her mother. After telling her mother everything she agreed to come over to EJ's and try to help them explain things to the children. Sami went inside and found all the children fast asleep on the floor with a movie playing on the television. Will and EJ were in the kitchen, EJ putting an ice pack on Will's face. "Are you okay? I cannot believe he hit you, I am so sorry sweetheart." "It's not your fault mom, I really blurted it all out at once first about my being gay then knowing about Allie." They all sat around the kitchen discussing what was going to happen next when Marlena knocked on the door.

EJ let her in and lead her to the kitchen so they could discuss what to do without waking the children. Marlena said it was going to be very difficult but Allie was old enough to understand it all. Once they had all decided how much to tell her they went to wake up the children to talk. Allie sat silent the entire time and when everyone had finished speaking she just looked to her brother Johnny and cried. She ran from the room and when Sami went to follow Johnny stopped her and said to let him talk to her. Sami couldn't believe how grown up he was for an eight year old. After about an hour Johnny and Allie came back and Allie said she had some questions. The next half hour was spent answering all of her questions some had to be edited a bit because it wouldn't do any good for her to know everything.

When they finished answering all her questions, she just looked at them and asked, "Does this mean he is going away and I won't see him again?" Sami went to her daughter and held her, "It does mean that he is going away. We know it will take some time for this to sink in but after a while things will get better." "I understand it and I know EJ is my dad just like Johnny and Sydney. I'm just not sure if I want to talk to my daddy, I mean Lucas or not anymore. I am mad at him, but he was my daddy my whole life." Marlena stepped in and said, "We know how much you love him, but sweetie you need to know that we can't take you to see him when he goes away. It isn't a place for children to be and he will be there a long time." At that minute Lucas chose to start banging on EJ's door and screaming obscenities that they couldn't keep his daughter from him.

Sami called the police and then took all the children upstairs and put on music to drown out the noise. Allie sat crying on the floor, when Sami went to her Allie cried out, "I don't want to see him again, he scared me." "Don't worry sweetheart EJ will protect us all." They could hear sirens in the background and Sami began to relax. The shouting stopped but she soon found out it was because Lucas fled. Roman had the police take statements and then told them to find him. He then went to check on his family and see how everyone was holding up. Walking into the kitchen he saw the pain and sadness in everyone's eyes except little Sydney. "Well we are out looking for him but in the meantime I want you all to stay together and someplace safe." "Wait we don't have to go into hiding do we? The kids have school in two days and I don't want to pull them out."

"If we don't find him by tomorrow night then yes. He just lost everything he had who knows what he will do. With all the evidence I have and other things starting to make sense and other unsolved stuff we thought was EJ, it's just better if you are protected." Great Sami thought just what she needed to be isolated from everyone when she wanted to be around her family the most. "I will call you if anything turns up or if the timetable needs to be moved up." With that Roman left and EJ and Sami stood there talking to Marlena and Will. It was decided that Will couldn't miss any college the younger ones would be easy enough to get their work and keep them caught up but they couldn't do that with Will. Marlena said Will could stay with her if it came to the others having to hide.

The call came a few hours later telling them that they had 30 minutes before the car arrived to take them to safety. Apparently upon searching Lucas' apartment there was a large quantity of alcohol and a dozen pictures of Sami and EJ. It seemed that Lucas planned to go after them both and take Allie back himself. Sami had Marlena go to the house with her to pack some stuff up to take with them. Twenty minutes later they were on their way back to EJ's with a car loaded down with as much as Sami could pack. When they arrived at the house the vehicles to take them to a safe house had arrived. Sami hugged her mother and father and Will before she climbed into the explorer. As they pulled away she glanced out the back window to see Roman talking to Will and Marlena, she didn't know when she would see her son again and that made her extremely sad.

Days turned into week and then months, it had been 7 months since Lucas went on the run and Sami and EJ and the children had to go into hiding. During those months EJ and Allie began to bond and she even started calling him Daddy every so often. One night after all the children were asleep Sami sat reading on the couch, when EJ came in to talk to her. "Samantha we need to decide what we are going to do when we no longer are in hiding. I have loved having this time with you and my children. Going back to how it was before is going to be so hard. Look at how close Allie and I have been able to get in such a short time because of us all being here together." "EJ what are you suggesting?" "I am suggesting Samantha that all of us live together. Nothing romantic on our end, don't get me wrong I will always love you, but I need to be around my children every day and not just popping in for visits." Sami thought about it for a few minutes before she spoke.

"I talked to my dad a little while ago and he suggested that when it is safe to come home that I still move to a new place that Lucas wouldn't know about. They already have Kate locked up but finding him is proving to be tricky which means that it's hard to say how safe it will be going home even after he is caught." "Samantha I will not let anything happen to you or our family. That includes Will, because he is part of our family. Maybe we should think about getting a house big enough for all of us to move in together. Lucas knows where I live so that wouldn't be safe either. I'm sure your father can get real estate listings for us to look at while we are here not like we have much to do after the children are in bed." Sami thought about it just as the secure phone line rang. It was Will checking in and letting them know that he was being brought to the safe house. Lucas had called him asking about Allie and with him done with school he could come now.

"That bastard!" Sami exclaimed when she hung up with Will, EJ stopping her just short of throwing the phone across the room. "What's wrong Samantha? What happened? Who was that?" "That was Will, he is on his way here because Lucas called him. He tried to use Will to get information on Allie so now they want Will here to keep him safe too." Sami walked out of the room shaking her head and going to make up the spare bed in Johnny's room. When she came back EJ pulled her into a hug, "Everything is going to be okay, Samantha I promise." She leaned into his hug, keeping herself distant really wasn't an option in this house but she needed the comfort he was offering. They were having to hide out from her ex who had done such horrible things and were making her children suffer every day.

Two hours later Will arrived and Sami held him close not wanting to let him go. It had been seven months since she last had been allowed to hold her eldest son. She told Will he would share with Johnny only 3 bedrooms so EJ has the couch and Sami the third room. Will states he is just glad to be with his family and accepts the hug from EJ. Stating he is tired Will goes to Johnny's room to sleep and Sami and EJ sit back down and continue talking. With Will came quite a few real estate listings so they started sorting them based on price first then location. Sami refused to go too expensive she wanted normal so they agreed that half the listing were too much. EJ stated he wanted everyone to have their own rooms and at least a play room as well.

After going through all the listings twice they weren't any closer to finding a good one. EJ started thinking about a property he actually owned already and realized it would be perfect big enough and just perfect. When Samantha went to check on the children EJ used the phone to call her father and ask him to get the information on the property. Roman faxed the papers to the safe house and EJ showed it to Sami. She fell in love with it almost instantly just based on the information. He showed her pictures and Sami froze, "I know this place, this is where we danced that night. How did you find this listing?" "Darling, I own it, I bought it a few weeks after that night. When we went through them all I realized this was the perfect place for us all." They smiled at each other thinking it really was the perfect place to move their family.

It took another eight months before they were finally able to find and capture Lucas. After he was caught, EJ and Sami headed for their new home with all of their children including Will. When they reached the house all the children were hesitant about wandering around so Sami walked them through the whole house. EJ told the children this was where they would all be living together and to go pick out their own rooms. Will looked between EJ and Sami and asked her how many rooms were there in this house. She told him enough for everyone to have their own rooms including him and of course EJ and Sami will have separate rooms. As Will wandered off to find a room for himself he wondered how long it was going to take for those two to realize they belong together.

Once all the kids had their rooms picked out Sami declared it was time they each pick the color they wanted their rooms to be painted. It was summer now so the goal was to have the rooms how they wanted them before school started that meant new furniture as well as painting and bedding. Sami wanted none of the furniture brought over this was a fresh start. So about an hour later they were ready to go to the store and loaded all the children into Sami's car and drove to get everything. Three hours later they were loaded up and heading home. While they had been in the safe house her father had hired a moving company to pack up both houses and put everything into storage. Roman called Sami and told her to let him know when she wanted it all brought over to the new house.

They got home and all the children were really sleepy but since the beds weren't set up Sami came up with camping in the living room which made them all excited. So Will helped EJ set up the little pop tents around the room. Once they were up the kids piled in and were asleep within minutes. Sami smiled as Will decided to go see Marlena and John for a while, so she hugged him tight and told him to be safe. After he left it was just Sami and EJ awake so Sami decided to go to her room and start painting, she wasn't sure where EJ had wandered off to. As she walked down the hall she passed by his bedroom and caught a glimpse of him stripping down to nothing before putting on painting clothes himself. She hurried on into her room where she closed the door to change herself, and then opened the windows and doors so the smell was bearable.

EJ wandered around the house looking for Samantha because he was going to help her paint the rooms. He found her in her room in old clothes painting the walls. Smiling he realized she must have passed his room while he had been changing. This was confirmed when he called her name and she looked up blushing three shades of pink. "Samantha, I was looking for you to help paint. Let me help we might be able to get a lot done together." "That would be nice EJ I figure we can do the base layer and then for the designs the kids can all help." So he grabbed a roller and began helping and soon they were working in sync and content with the silence.

Four hours later they had three of the six bedrooms done. Will had phoned to say he would be staying at Marlena's tonight and going to see friends in the morning. Sami and EJ decided to call it a night and went to their separate tents. In the morning Sami woke to the smell of french toast and fresh coffee, and the sound of giggling. She wandered into the kitchen and found not only EJ and the children but Belle and Claire. Belle smile over at her sister before getting up from her seat and rushing into a long overdo hug. It took a few minutes before Sami released her sister and then walked over and hugged her niece, who was ten now. "Where is Shawn?" "Over at his parents' house checking in and visiting Ciara. Not sure where we are all planning on staying yet looking at houses in town but it might be a while." EJ looked at them and offered to let them stay with them. "We couldn't impose you all just came home yourself, you probably need some time to settle in."

Sami glanced back and forth between EJ and her sister while he continued to assure her that it was fine. As a matter of fact he wanted as much family around as possible after so long away it was perfect and there was plenty of room. It was true while they took up six rooms there were still plenty other empty ones for guests and whatever else they decided to use them for. Finally Belle said she would check with Shawn first before saying yes and wandered into the other room. Sydney giggled all of a sudden and everyone glanced over. The little four year old had maple syrup running down her hair from where she had dumped her plate after trying to balance it on her head like her brother Johnny was at the same moment. Giggling herself Sami took Sydney upstairs to get her cleaned up and when they returned Shawn had arrived thanking EJ for the offer to stay.

Shawn gave Sami and hug and said the house was already proving to be beautiful. "Thank you started the painting last night actually plan to do more today. Actually Belle is you could help me with the kids doing their project I can go get started again." "Sure what is the project?" After showing Belle all the name plates they had gotten the day before she told her they were to paint them however they wanted so when the rooms were ready they would be mounted on their doors. Once the children were all settled down with their project Sami snuck a text to Will asking him to pick another one up for Claire to make later. She then went back to work side by side with EJ and Shawn joined them a little later when he returned from the boat with all their stuff.

"You guys are more than welcome to repaint the rooms you are in we have to paint everything and we want you to feel at home while you are here." "Thanks I am really not sure how long it will take to get back on our feet. I'm not really qualified for anything other than sailing." "Well Grandma Caroline needs someone to take over the pub she has been having some problems with her health. I know she would rather leave it in a family member's hands instead of a stranger." Shawn said he would think about it and they went back to painting. After a couple more hours they managed to finish the other 3 rooms with a lot of extra paint and Sami reoffered it to let Shawn and Belle paint their's and Claire's rooms.

When they went downstairs, Will had arrived and given Claire her name plate. Belle smile at her sister and silently thanked her for everything. Sami just smiled back and then asked what everyone wanted for lunch. The majority wanted pizza and wings so she wandered off to order the food. EJ followed with Will and Belle's urging and when she was done asked her if she wanted to go to the store with him to get drinks. She grabbed her purse and walked out to his car with him, he stood there holding open her door. As she climbed in she smiled to herself thinking it was nice once in a while to have a door held open for you. They drove for a few minutes in silence before Sami looked over at EJ. "Alright so you might as well tell me what is going through that head of yours. And throw in the looks my son and sister were tossing you as we left." "Samantha, I have no idea what you are referring to. As for what is on my mind that would be a lot of things."

They arrived at the store and after buying a ton of sodas and juice and milk and bottled water they headed home. Halfway there the silence got to her again and she told him to pull over. Once on the should she had him look at her and asked him again to tell her what was going on. After a moment he nodded his head and finally answered truthfully, "I have been trying to find a way to bring this up to you. Will has been on me for the last six months to talk to you, Belle just today. I miss us Samantha, the closeness we used to have. The passion, the love and just all of it, my life has not been the same without it. Now I understand the need to take things slow but I still believe we should try. We love each other and I am not too scared to admit it, are you?" Sami sat stunned in the passenger seat and only hesitated a minute before answering him. "EJ it has never been a question of whether you love me but whether I love you. While I am terrified of my feelings for you I better be honest about them. I have loved you since that first time we danced in what is now our home. It has terrified me nonstop and have never been willing to admit it but I think it's time." With that they kissed, agreeing to take things very slow and continue to have separate rooms.

The end for now….


	2. Chapter 2

It's been another six months since EJ and Sami have decided to try again and take it slow. Their family is happy and Belle, Shawn and Claire are still staying with them. Will has told his whole family he is gay and they all support him no matter what.

It was a special day for EJ and Sami, it had been six months since they had been back together again, but it was also the anniversary of the death of the child they thought they had lost years ago. With the children in school they dropped Sydney off at Marlena's so they could go pay their respects at the cemetery, where they found EJ's brother Chad doing the same thing. They all stood there in silence after Sami placed the flowers on the grave silent tears in her eyes. While this little girl would always be her little Grace she was Chad's biological daughter and he had never been able to meet her.

Afterwards they all went to get some coffee and the coffee house where Will worked. Sonny and Will were behind the counter laughing about something when they walked in. Realizing the day Will walked over and put his arms around his mother, then EJ and finally Chad. He then went over and got them each their regulars and brought them to a table and told them on the house. Sami thanked him and they sat in silence until Chad finally asked to hear about Grace. So they sat there a few hours as Sami told stories to them both of the short time she had with Grace.

Realizing the time, EJ and Sami left to get the children from school and take them home inviting Chad over for dinner tonight. "We are having spaghetti and there will be plenty for all. Please come today is not a day to be alone it's a day to be surrounded by love trust me I have learned the hard way." Chad said he would try and they left after telling Sonny and Will to come to dinner also. "I can't believe how cool your mom was from the beginning about you." "I know I was shocked myself, and then when my dad flipped out she freaked on him. EJ was really cool too only telling me I needed to tell her because he didn't like keeping secrets from her not with their past. My whole family has been pretty cool about it, of course if they realize I am actually dating they might be different." "I think your mom already knows you are with the way she looked at me today. If I read that look right it was treat him good but I guess will find out at dinner tonight right?"

They passed the afternoon chatting and serving customers, they talked about what Will planned to do since he had finished college and still hadn't done anything. Of course Sonny thought Will should be a web page designer because he was so good at it. Will thought about it as they drove to the house for family spaghetti dinner night. When they arrived the house was full of life, not only were Sami and EJ and the kids all there. So were Belle and Shawn and Claire, Marlena and John, Chad, Roman and Bo and Hope and Ciara, Lexi and Abe and Theo also. It was crowded and loud but full of love and laughter. All the children had their own table that EJ and Shawn and brought out of the kitchen for the occasion. Everyone else sat at the main table and made lively talk to each other.

After dinner Sami and Belle brought out the tray of cannoli. While the adults had coffee with their cannoli the children had milk and then were sent to bed. Theo and Ciara were staying the night so they each went upstairs after telling their parents goodnight. Once everyone finished their coffee they began saying goodnight and slowly they headed out the door. Marlena stayed behind to talk to Sami and help clean up. Sami had already brought everything into the kitchen by the time Marlena caught up with her. She saw no point in dragging out what she wanted to say she knew how much that irritated her daughter. "Are you and EJ planning on getting married?" "Mom, we just started dating six months ago, and yes I know we have children but we wanted to do it right this time and take things slow." "Sweetheart I love you but sometimes you don't use your head. While I was skeptical at first I see what a good man he is and it's obvious how in love you two are so you might as well just marry the man for good this time." With that she walked out of the kitchen and then out of the house.

After loading up the dishwasher she wandered around the house turning off lights in the empty rooms. She came upon the library and decided to grab a book for the night. As she entered the room however the door behind her shut and it was pure darkness. Someone came up behind her and before she screamed she breathed in the musky smell that was EJ. "Don't do that, you scared the daylights out of me." "I am sorry Samantha, I had hoped you would come in here and I have a surprise for you so please close your eyes." Instead of putting up any sort of fight she did as he asked and a few minutes later was told to open her eyes.

The sight before her made Sami speechless, which was definitely a hard thing to do. There were candles everywhere, a small blanket in front of the fireplace and a present in the center of it. EJ guided her to the blanket where he put her back to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you so much Samantha, I honestly want this to be our life. Family happy and loved, gatherings like tonight are my favorite thing about this family being so big. When I think how my life was two years ago it's unbelievable how much has changed. One thing that hasn't is my love for you. Samantha I know we said to take this slow but I don't know how much longer I can wait until I am your husband and you my wife. For once no one wants to stand in our way and we are both honest about how much we love each other. Please tell me you will be my wife, my everything and my eternal love?" Sami only hesitated a second before turning around in his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck before kissing him. "Of course I will marry you EJ, I love you."

They sat there curled up in front of the fire until she fell asleep. EJ carried her up to her bedroom and as he turned to leave she stirred and asked him to stay. He walked back to her after turning off the light and pulled back the blanket, it wasn't long before he fell asleep himself. When Belle woke up she realized her sister must still be asleep so she went to wake her up. After peeking in and seeing them sleeping so peacefully she shut the door again and started getting the children all up for school. Will helped get the boys up and dressed while Belle helped the girls and Shawn made breakfast. Then Will took all the kids to school in Sami's car before he came home and switched it for his car and went to work.

Sami woke up to a quiet house and a bright room, "Oh no EJ we overslept!" She rushed out of her room only to find the house empty and a note taped to her door from Belle telling her and EJ to enjoy some time to themselves Shawn took Sydney to work with him for a bit and all the rest were at school. EJ came out of the room and read the note also, with a smile he picked her up and swung her around before planting a kiss firmly on her lips. "I love you Samantha Jean Brady." I love you too Elvis John DiMera." They wandered into the kitchen and made breakfast then went and showered and dressed EJ wanted to go pick out a ring. It isn't that he hadn't planned his proposal but he wanted the ring to be the perfect one she wanted.

At the jewelry store, they looked at every ring until Sami stopped and stared at one special ring. It made her think of their family the individual stones all together on the band exactly six medium size stones. When EJ saw the ring he noticed it too and smiled, "We will take this one please." As the jeweler place the ring in front of them EJ smiled at her and placed it on her finger. Another sign for them was that it fit her finger perfectly no altering needed. He paid for the ring and they left hand in hand and headed to the pub to get Sydney. Shawn was really busy and Sydney was helping the waitress at the register cash people out. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves but as soon as Sydney saw her parents she wriggled free and ran to them. They hugged her fiercely then told Shawn they were taking her with them for the rest of the day.

Back home they tucked Sydney in for a nap and then went to relax a bit before the children came home. They walked into the kitchen and came face to face with Will and Sonny in a tender embrace. "Guess we should've announced ourselves", joke Sami. Will and Sonny jumped apart like they had been burned which just made her chuckle even more. "Relax it was just a joke, you know my rules on PDA it needs to be appropriate in case Sydney walks in." She walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water for herself and asked EJ if he wanted anything. "A water will be just fine and then we can leave these two to their privacy." Smiling as they left Sami just was so happy for Will to have found someone, especially one who could tell when it was good natured teasing or someone being a jerk.

Once they were alone, EJ and Sami drew close and kissed passionately. They only pulled apart when they heard Marlena's voice entering from the kitchen. "Sami I wanted to bring you something that I found in storage that I thought you would love." Marlena handed Sami an old quilt, looking at it closer she realized it was the family quilt her and Marlena had made for a school project so many years ago. "Oh my goodness that is a pretty ring", Marlena said gripping Sami's hand. "Thanks we just picked it out a couple hours ago." Seizing this as an opportunity to check on Sydney EJ slipped out of the room. As he walked up the stairs he heard Marlena chattering to Samantha about starting to plan as soon as possible. He just chuckled glad that he didn't have much to do decide on with this, it seemed like Marlena was wanting to plan the whole thing.

With Sydney sleeping peacefully, EJ wandered down the hall into Samantha's room. The room was pure Samantha down to the last detail and he wandered around glancing at family photos that covered the walls and most surfaces. He was so entranced with an old photo he hadn't noticed before that he never heard her come in behind him. She walked over and saw what he was looking at and smiled. "That night is still one of my favorites, I went to the photographer and asked for a copy of the picture he took of us dancing. It has been hidden for a long time found it in an old box marked memories for the children at my mom's house." EJ continued to stare at the photo, Samantha's vibrant green dress clinging in all the right places. You could see the passion between them even back then when they were so young.

Sami realized the photo was having a strong effect on EJ, so she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. Eventually he came out of his trance and turned around into her arms and kissed her with such a fierce passion. After a while they pulled apart and just stared at each other. She looked around and decided it was time for the next step. Sydney was awake as she walked down the hall so she took her downstairs with her and asked Will if he minded taking Sydney and the other kids to the park today she needed to have some time with EJ. Will grabbed Sidney and with a smile to his mom walked out with Sonny. Locking the doors she headed back up and found EJ laying on her bed holding that picture.

"If I had known it would effect you like this I would've shown it to you a long time ago. EJ are you okay? You to be completely out of it." It took a moment before he answered her, "I just didn't realize that this moment had meant to much to you. It has meant so much to me over the years and to be honest I didn't think you actually remembered it." "Of course I did, we won first place in a Tango competition when all it started off as was a dance lesson. That day was the first time I actually lied to myself that I only thought of you as my friend. I could feel the passion we shared and it scared me so much." "But of course darling seeing as how you were supposed to marry another man. However, I remember it as a day when you saw the real me and I saw the real you. A day where we were both so happy to just spend time together until they showed up and ruined the moment."

"That doesn't matter now, the part I prefer to think about is how it felt dancing in your arms. The look that is burned into my brain of intense passion and wanting. As well and just the joy of being with someone who fully understood and accepted me instead of trying to change me or judge me." "Samantha, who am I to judge anyone? I have done horrible things including to you but I live with that every day of my life…."Sami cut EJ off with a kiss, and then another and another until she was sure there really was only one way this could end. Carefully placing the picture back on her nightstand EJ wrapped his arms around Sami and pulled her onto the bed with him. They made love over and over again until they had no energy left to move. Curling up on her side against EJ put her in such a peaceful place it made Sami smile and fall asleep.

When he realized she had fallen asleep, EJ slipped out from under the covers and headed towards his room. Once there he showered and dressed and headed downstairs and pushed play on the flashing answering machine. "Hi mom and EJ just wanted to let you know that I took the kids to Gramma Marlena's house she wanted them to spend the night didn't think you would mind. I won't be home until later it's open mic night after the shop and Aunt Belle said that they all planned to be at Bo and Hope's tonight. I tried calling your cell phones but the voicemail said it was full." EJ hadn't checked his cell phone once today and didn't remember seeing Samantha do it either. He went back upstairs and curled up with Samantha and fell right back asleep. Waking in the middle of the night with the urge to make love to his fiancé all over again, which they did many times over.

The next morning, EJ woke to the smell of pancakes and no Samantha in the bed with him. He wandered into the kitchen and found her cooking away with Will and Sonny sitting at the counter eating their fair share. Sami smiled at him when she saw him enter the kitchen, "Good morning! Seeing as how it's just us four this morning help yourself any leftovers will just be tucked away for someone to eat later." EJ grabbed a plate and helped himself to a giant stack of pancakes, covering them in butter and fresh maple syrup. After taking a few bites he spoke up, "These are amazing so fluffy and delicious." "Yeah mom has always made the best pancakes. For a while there it really was the only thing she could make that she didn't burn." "Hey! There were other things…..okay I can't think of any at the moment but they still exist." Everyone laughed while they finished off the pancakes, not one left out of the entire batch.

EJ and Sami decided to set a date, neither wanted to have a long drawn out engagement. They settled for six months from then and Sami called the church to find an exact date and set it right then and there. Afterwards they decided to gather up the family to let them know it was official and what the date was. Marlena of course was overjoyed as were most of the women they couldn't wait to help plan. Sami asked Belle to be Maid of Honor and both wondered if they should call Carrie and Austin, then decided to wait and let their mom do it. Belle wanted to go out and get the bridal magazines but Sami had thought about what her real wedding to EJ would look like for a few years now, even though she would never admit it to anyone but him.

The next day the preparations began booking everyone and finding that perfect dress, while six months felt like an eternity to Sami it also wasn't much time to get the wedding done. At least the bridal party was easy enough so she figured it wasn't going to be that bad. Two weeks into the planning and she began getting discouraged, no luck finding her dress she had imagined and the flowers were going to be tricky. After another day of only getting half of the planning done she collapsed on the couch in defeat. EJ noticing her discouragement came and sat with her, "What's wrong Darling? This is supposed to be the wedding of your dreams." "Oh EJ, I have dreamed for years of our perfect wedding but it seems my dreams are out of season and impossible." "Samantha, cost isn't a problem you know this, and nothing is impossible Sweetheart so what is the biggest hurdle and let me see if I can help."

Together cuddled on the couch she filled him in on all the walls she kept running into. "Well the dress is simple enough just get it custom made I know a good woman for the job. She can make anything you want and in time. As for the flowers tell the florist who you are marrying and let them know cost is not a problem and it will be fine." "Who is this mystery dress maker?" "My mother, she is an amazing woman and it is about time you meet her don't you think so?" Snuggling into her fiancé, Sami started feeling better and much calmer than she had for the past couple weeks. "I love you EJ, I can't wait to meet your mom and then marry you." "Who knows maybe have more children some day as well," EJ chuckled as Sami stared at him like he had two heads.

The next morning, EJ announced that his mother would be on the next plane out of England. Sami went to fix up the guest room, she wanted his mother to like her. Susan Banks was a beautiful woman she had the sophisticated side but also seemed very down to earth. As soon as she walked through the door the first thing she did was pull Sami into a giant hug. "I can see why my son fell head over heels for you, my dear. Now, where are my grandchildren?" As they lined up to meet their Grandmother she hugged each of them and kissed their heads. "Oh my, their pictures just don't show exactly how gorgeous they are. You both have made some beautiful babies, maybe the next set I will be able to be here to watch them grow." Standing there speechless Sami just stared at who was soon to be her mother-in-law, and wondered how this woman could ever get with Stefano.

After showing Susan to her room, Sami went to find EJ who was making dinner. "Your mother is so much like you, now I know where the best side of you came from." EJ just smiled at her knowing exactly what she was referring to. His mother was a windstorm, but she loved her family and taught them right from wrong. "Something smells amazing", Susan exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. "Now Samantha, or do you prefer Sami? We should start your dress fittings first thing in the morning so we have plenty of time to get it done. I will need to go to a fabric store so we can get the right material." "Well, the only person who does call me Samantha is EJ, everyone else calls me Sami. As for the fabric we can go today just as soon as my son Will gets back with my car he had to bring a bunch of things here from my mother's house."

Three hours later they had a mannequin as well as a ton of fabric in one of the spare rooms. This was going to be where her dream dress was put together from nothing and Sami couldn't wait. Susan settled into calling her Sami stating that because EJ is the only one who calls her anything else it is special to them. Sami couldn't believe how different his parents were, while both loved their families Stefano was twisted about is while Susan just loving. Weeks passed and the dress really started turning into exactly what she had dreamed it would be. Things were finally falling into place and she didn't think anything could possibly go wrong, but of course for Sami things were never easy….


	3. Chapter 3

The call came three days before the wedding, Lucas had managed to escape prison. Dread filled everyone's hearts, Roman tried to convince Sami to postpone until he was caught again. "Daddy, it took over a year the last time, I will not put my life on hold again. I am marrying EJ in three days and no one and nothing is going to stop me." Again the phone rang, it was Will saying he had seen Lucas and he had grabbed Allie from the playground. Sami sank to the floor, he had her little girl the one person on the planet who was not safe from him and he had her. She called EJ on his phone and told him what happened while her father called the FBI for help. Within minutes the house was filled, Will in tears who kept apologizing came in with the rest of the kids.

Sami pulled her oldest into a giant hug, "Shhh, it's not your fault, it's not you couldn't have known he was loose. I just found out a few minutes before you called me. We are going to find her and she will come home safe and sound, I promise you." She continued to hold him until her mom and EJ showed up. Marlena took over with Will and EJ pulled Sami into his arms. "Do we know anything yet? Any word from Lucas or FBI?" "EJ, the FBI has been called but if Lucas only wants Allie back I don't imagine he is going to call. Our only hope is that we can trace him quickly, he can't get far with no money and no one to help him." With Kate still in jail Lucas really had no one, Austin wasn't going to help him take off with his niece so he really had no where to go. An hour passed before the first FBI agent arrived on the scene. EJ was definitely not happy to see that Rafe Hernandez was on the scene.

Rafe took charge the minute he stepped through the door, barking orders and collecting names of everyone helping in the investigation. There was already an amber alert out and people were lining up to help in the search. After he did the initial rounds, Rafe walked over to Sami and EJ, ignoring EJ completely he looked at Sami and told her they would find Allie. She just nodded her head and clung to EJ, Rafe being here was trouble. He may be the best but with their history she didn't really feel comfortable but they would endure for Allie's sake. Sami went to the kitchen to brew coffee for everyone, no one was going to sleep until Allie was home safe.

"I need to go for a walk, get myself together, by myself." she added before EJ could say anything else. She bundled up and headed out the door, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Knowing everyone would be angry with her including EJ she didn't want to tell them until after it was done. Walking up the drive to the mansion felt like the longest walk on earth. Within minutes the door was opened by Stefano himself. "Come in Samantha, I saw the news but am surprised to see you here." "Listen no small talk I am not happy about this but I need to find Allie and could use all the help I can get. This still changes nothing but if you love your family like you say you do then you won't hesitate to help find your missing granddaughter." "All you needed to do was ask, Samantha I would do anything for my family." There was a knock on the door before it opened to EJ standing on the other side.

"Figured this was where you had headed, no word yet and knowing you Samantha you would sell your soul to find our daughter. Father, whatever you plan to do is on you not us but let Lucas be brought back to justice don't kill him. Come on Samantha there is nothing here for us, our children need us." With that he lead her to the car, once on the road she spoke. "Please don't be angry with me I just can't not do something." EJ cut her off, "Darling, I wanted to do the same thing but was afraid you would be mad. It's strange how in a crisis we both think to turn to my father. We will get our daughter back I do promise you, they are out searching and I plan to join in myself." "I am too, now before you cut me off my mother and sister are at the house and I have known Lucas longer than most people so I will know places to go that he may hide." In that instance Sami realized she needed to make a phone call to a woman she despised but might hear something.

Chloe Lane was surprised to hear Samantha Brady on the other end of her cell phone. "What do you want Sami? I don't have time for your daily dose of drama or petty snark comments." "I didn't call for any of that, Lucas broke out of prison and took Allie. With his mom in jail I realized he might try to guilt you into helping him and hoped you wouldn't." As Chloe began to deny hearing from him her phone beeped a restricted number. She told her to hold on and switched over to hear Lucas' panicked voice begging for help. As Sami predicted he tried to guilt her told her he was heading to Chicago and needed a place to stay when he got there. Not knowing what else to say she agreed to let him stay with her and he hung up. "You were right, he is on his way to my house now. I don't know where he is but he just called me and told me he was heading to Chicago. I'm not going to tell him you are on your way but realize this he sounds panicked."

They hung up the phone and Sami called her dad, filled him in then told him they were heading to Chicago. Before he could discourage her she hung up and called her mother and told her the same thing then hung up. "Chicago is a long drive you sure we can catch him there?" All Sami did was look out the window as they drove holding EJ's hand and praying they would be able to end this well. Just outside of Chicago Sami's phone rang, it was Chloe and Sami heart sank before she even answered. "Hey he just showed up but he doesn't have Allie with him. I'm not sure where she is or how he got here but it's just him and he is frantic I got him to go take a shower and put on fresh clothes he had asked me to get him. You better hurry or you might lose him." After relaying what Chloe said EJ stepped on it and they made it to her apartment as Lucas came out the front door.

Ducking down they hid till he passed, then Sami slipped out of the car and ducked inside to borrow something from Chloe to hide before catching up to EJ and following. Lucas ducked down side streets and into alleys seeming to go no where and everywhere at once. He stopped to grab a bag of some kind that he must have stashed and then entered an old building. Entering carefully behind him, they found themselves in a run down motel. Wandering up to the clerk's desk Sami asked the man about Lucas and if he had a little girl with him. "Lady, I am not telling you anything." With that statement EJ grabbed the man and slammed his face to the countertop. "You will answer because my name is EJ DiMera and that man has taken my little girl. So unless you want to feel my wrath you will answer our questions truthfully." Letting him go the man glanced back and forth before answering.

"He didn't have anyone with him when he checked in, but not long after a woman checked in with a little girl. She didn't stay long but the little girl hadn't left until just a few minutes ago. Another person walked out with her, I assumed it was family because she wasn't crying." Sami felt her heart fall once more, they were no closer to finding Allie and to make it worse Lucas didn't even have her anymore. Leaving the motel Sami called her father to tell him what she found out. FBI was at the motel within minutes dragging Lucas out while he screamed that they would never find her. EJ just held her while he was loaded into a car and taken away. Walking back inside they gave asked him if he thought the woman would be back and he assured them she would. She had left her ID when she signed in so he was sure to find her again.

"Wait, you have her ID and didn't think to show it to us? Give it to me." Taking the ID from his hand she froze and turned white as a sheet. EJ seeing the reaction looked himself and saw the worst possible name involved, Nicole Walker. "The other woman you saw did she look similar to this one? Pretty, blonde and sweet?" "Yeah, that would be her." Sami called her father and told him that Nicole Walker and Taylor Walker were helping Lucas and that last seen with Allie is Taylor. They went back to Chloe's apartment to return her things and went to find a hotel. After checking in Sami phoned her mother so she could hear her children's voices. Johnny kept asking where Allie was and when they would be back. "Soon baby I hope very, very soon. When we get back I am going to give you a big hug I love you."

Hanging up with tears in her eyes Sami finally let them fall. EJ held onto her and just told her to let them fall, cry as long as she needed to. They didn't know how exhausted they were until they woke to the sound of her phone ringing. Lucas wanted to talk to Sami and would only talk to her in person. She told them she would call them back with her decision, realizing it was just a ploy to get her out of Chicago somewhere in this city was her daughter. It only took a moment for it to dawn on her that Brandon lived in Chicago and he might have some idea how to find his sisters. Calling Abe as they headed out the door she asked him to call his son and see if he was willing to meet up. Five minutes later, Abe called back stating that Brandon said to meet them at a coffee shop near his house and gave them the location.

It took only minutes to arrive and they saw Brandon already there. "Sami, I would say good to see you but seeing as why you are here I guess it isn't. Sit down and I can try to help but I can't guarantee anything." "Brandon, has either of your sisters asked you for your help? Come to you or called and asked to come see you in the past few days?" "Nikki called me a couple days ago and asked me if the family home was still in our name. I told her it was but no one had been there in years. She said she just needed a place to go to get away from her ex husband EJ. Which I assume would be you, so why are you chasing my sister around again?" Sami glanced between the two men, "Enough with the chest butting dammit. My daughter is missing Brandon and Nikki and Taylor both were the last ones seen with her. They helped Lucas and are still helping him keep my little girl from me."

"I can see Nikki helping him she hates you both, but why Taylor? She is the exact opposite of her and would never do anything like this." "Maybe for the same reason the Lucas asked Chloe for help. Guilt can make a person do crazy things. Nicole probably made Taylor feel guilty for what happened with EJ just like Lucas made Chloe feel bad about cheating on him. Either way it doesn't matter why all that matters is that my little girl comes home to her brothers and sister where she belongs." Brandon thought about it a minute before pulling out his phone and calling Abe gave him the address for the family home and hung up. "If Nikki sees you I guarantee you won't find Allie within miles of that place. Maybe you should just head home to your children and let the police handle this." With that he walked away without a backwards glance.

"Yeah right but Taylor can't be far from Nicole, I mean they had only left within minutes of each other. Where would she go? She can't go home because no passport for Allie so thankfully she will remain in America. Should we tell your father what we found out?" EJ was wondering the same thing as his phone rang, "Speak of the devil, yes Father. Really? How did you know Taylor and Nicole were involved? Never mind better I don't know, okay so we know Nicole was interested in a house in Cleveland and Taylor no clue where she is." He listened a bit and acknowledged that he understood before hanging up. "Taylor was spotted by one of father's men shopping for clothing and food and other things like that. She loaded up a car and is heading for Ohio but if she changes his man will let Father know. Allie wasn't with her so it will do no good to tell authorities until we know where she is."

They pulled onto the interstate and headed towards Ohio, the whole time Sami prayed that they would find their daughter soon. The drive to Cleveland was a long one, but they made it by daybreak. Every so often EJ would get another ding on his phone updating him on Taylor's location. Sami's phone rang letting her know that they had searched the house and no sign of anyone but they had found Allie's necklace on the table. That meant that Nicole had her since Taylor still didn't and that scared Sami more. Relaying everything to EJ his hands gripped the wheel more as he told her to tell Stefano. After she filled him in Stefano said he might know of a way to find her and if he had any luck would call back. It seemed to take forever before either of them heard anything from anyone. An email had come in to Sami from Nicole telling her that she would never see her daughter again because she didn't deserve such a sweet little girl.

Tears filled Sami's eyes again, no telling where it was sent from or how long it was going to take to find her. EJ's phone rang telling them Taylor had stopped at a motel and was getting out. Minutes later they pulled up to see the car still parked but no sign of Taylor anywhere. Sami threw caution to the wind and walked into the office only to see Taylor crying to clerk begging for his help. It was all she could handle and walked up and punched her straight in the face. The clerk went to step in but thought better of it when EJ came in a minute later and told him to stay out of it. "You better tell me where my daughter is, I have no qualms about hurting your pretty little face till you talk. For some reason you think that you and your sister are justified in taking her, why because of who her parents are? Nicole has kidnapped not one but now two of my children and you are okay with this? Your brother told us how to find you he seemed disappointed that you would let Nicole get you into so much trouble."

"Go to Hell, Sami, you think everything revolves around you. I did what I did to help my sister get her child back from you people. How dare you accuse her of taking your child when Abby is Nicole's little girl with Lucas." "Are you delusional or just dumb? Nicole has no children has miscarried both babies she had been pregnant with. That little girl's name is Allie and she is the twin to my son Johnny." Taylor was frozen on the spot, it all started sinking in what she had done. "What am I supposed to do she is already gone? I can't find her until she calls me to tell me where to meet up." "Well until then you get to stay with us, it should be a fun road trip," Sami glared at the woman who help take her child as she said it. A few hours later Taylor's phone rang and she answered it after putting it on speaker. Nicole told her to head towards California and she would give her instructions in a few hours then hung up.

So the three of them got back on the interstate and headed towards California. Sami called her father to update him on everything and while he wanted Taylor in custody Sami refused saying they needed her until Allie was found. Hanging up with her father Sami turned and spoke venomously to Taylor, "If any harm comes to my little girl I will make you and your sister pay. I can promise you that with my last breath I will never let you have a moment of peace." With that she turned to face forward and took the hand EJ offered her. All was silent for hours, no one saw a reason to speak to each other and only stopped every so often for a fill up and restroom break. About two hours later Taylor's phone rang again and she answered the same way. "Head towards LA I am heading to a small town a little north of there. Call me when you get there and I will give you the address."

In Barstow, they stopped and Sami called her mother to check in with the kids. After listening to them chatter on a while a pained looked crossed her face. Johnny had overheard Rafe say that they had no leads on finding Allie and was crying that he wanted his mommy. "Oh Honey, I want to be home with you too. Daddy and I have gotten closer to finding Allie baby I promise. We love you so much and will bring her back with us soon. Yes honey I know the wedding is tomorrow we should be home. I love you Johnny." She hung up with tears formed in her eyes but refused to let them fall in front of Taylor. "Do you see what you and your nasty sister have done? My eight year old is worried about he sister and wants his mom and dad but we have to find her so can't be there. Was all of this worth it just to ease your guilt because she were screwing your sister's husband?"

Walking away before she hit her, Sami got back into the car and waited until EJ and Taylor joined. It was a two hour drive to Los Angeles where they could call Nicole. Sitting in Taylor's car and listening to the silence Sami almost broke down again. Taylor tried to speak up but with a glance at EJ realized it was not a good idea at all. As they got closer to the city EJ's phone went off and Sami answered. "Yes Stefano, okay we are just outside of LA now." Sami continued to make noises to let Stefano know she was listening but didn't want to give anything away. After she hung up she let EJ know that Nicole had been spotted and had a tail. It took Taylor only a minute to realize what Sami just said, "You mean to tell me that you have Stefano after my sister? Are you crazy he will kill her?" "How do you think we found you Taylor? That car following you was DiMera henchman, they won't hurt either of you because Stefano wants to stay on our good side. I personally would love to see you all rot in prison so you are safe."

They got to Los Angeles and Taylor called Nicole who told her drive to Pismo Beach she was at the Sea Garden Motel the room just the other side of the Coke machine. It took three hours to reach the motel then they waited a couple more to make sure that she was there and hadn't taken off. Around midnight Nicole came out of the room and went to her car, grabbing something out of the trunk she glanced around before heading back inside. Taylor called Nicole and told her she had gotten turned around and was in some place called Oceano, which was a town they had driven through to get here. Nicole told her to stay put and she would meet her there, didn't think it was a good idea to meet up anyway she had the feeling she was being watched and followed. Ten minutes later Nicole left the motel carrying Allie in her arms before laying her in the backseat and driving away.

Sami put a call into the local PD telling them that the suspect in a kidnapping was seen leaving the motel and heading south towards Oceano she had the girl in question in the car and not restrained then hung up. They followed her car until they were almost to Oceano where a police officer pulled her over. He asked for her license and registration and after she handed him them he went back to his car and called it in. Minutes later her car was surrounded by unmarked FBI vehicles and once she was secure Sami ran to her daughter. Holding her little girl in her arms Sami took her back to EJ where they refused to let go. Stefano called to say the jet was at the Oceano County Airport waiting to bring them home.

The FBI agents drove them to the airport and informed them they needed to check in with Rafe when they landed. Sami didn't care though she had her little girl back safe and sound. Once on the plane she called home so that Johnny could talk to Allie and then she fell asleep curled up on her father's lap. "I love you Samantha. Looks like we will make it to our own wedding after all." Her only response was to sigh contentedly while leaning into her soon to be husband and putting her arm around their daughter. It felt like it took days instead of hours to get home, when they landed Rafe was right there ready to scold.

"Back off Rafe I wasn't about to sit around and leave my daughter's fate up to the police. It's not in me to do nothing and you know it now if you excused me we have a wedding to get to." With that she walked away and got into the waiting car that Will was standing by. They drove straight to the church where Sami cleaned up and went to get ready. There were hugs all around as they entered the bridal room and no one wanted to let Allie go, until she reminded them that they had a wedding to get on with. This made everyone laugh as they finished getting Sami and Allie ready to walk down the aisle. Roman stuck his head in after making sure was all clear, sweeping his daughter and granddaughter into his arms he made sure Sami knew that they would be having a long talk later.

The music began to play as Allie and Will walked down the aisle, followed by Belle and Chad. Then Sydney and Johnny walked down as Sydney sprinkled flower petals along the way. Finally Sami came into view on the arm of her father, a vision in her dress, she took EJ's breath away. Their eyes never left each other the whole time as she walked up the aisle toward him. When she reached his side Roman gave her arm to EJ and they turned to face Eric Sami's twin who was a priest. They said their I Do's and kissed each other before Eric announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Elvis DiMera. As they turned to face their family and friends and saw Stefano slip out the back of the church with a nod of thanks.

As with any Irish wedding there is an amazing reception, all the stops had been pulled. Everyone had a great time and Sami and EJ danced the night away reluctantly letting some cut in every now and then. Finally Sami decided it was time to get the children home and spend the evening with her new husband in the comfort of their own home. So with that in mind she made the rounds and said goodbye but was told she never did throw the bouquet, They all gathered around as she counted to three and then tossed it over her shoulder where he younger sister Cassie caught it. With that they went to their limo and drove away with their children safe and sound sleeping. Sami couldn't be any happier than right at this moment, or could she…

Another sequel is in the works so stayed tuned.


	4. Chapter 4

It's been four months since the wedding, things have gotten better for Sami and EJ and their family. Of course a big surprise makes life never dull.

EJ walked into the house carrying yet another bag of shopping. Between Sami and her family and his mother this house was overrun with shopping bags. He didn't mind since he wanted Sami to have everything she wanted and then some. His phone rang and it was Will asking what time to be at the house to watch the kids. After relaying when he was needed EJ hung up and called his wife, she should have been home by now. "Yes EJ, I am on my but your mom ran into me and wanted to take me shopping for a few things. I promise we will be there soon, I love you." "I love you too, Darling can't wait to see you."

It felt like hours instead of minutes before she walked through the front door followed by his mother. "Looks like you too had a blast today", he said as he kissed his wife and took the bags from them both. "We went all over and got pretty much one of everything, I forgot how much fun shopping can be!" He just smiled between the two of them, so glad his mother decided to extend her trip and excited for when his stepfather came too. Will walked through the door carrying about five more bags. "These are not from me Shawn said Belle had bought stuff for you." Sami just smiled as she took the bags and glanced inside. "We have got to get going, we will see you all later."

With that he escorted his wife out the door and into his car. "Are you excited?", he asked while they drove to their appointment. "Nervous is more like it, after last time I don't know what is going to happen." He just took her hand and they chatted happily the whole trip. Once they arrived at the office, EJ opened the door for her and held her arm the whole way inside. Sami noticed the jealous looks she got whenever her and EJ we together. Of course her husband seemed oblivious to the women who vied for his attention and anytime she said something he would just remind her that he only had eyes for her.

"Mr. and Mrs. DiMera come right in the doctor is waiting for you." The nurse led them back to the exam room where indeed Dr. Rosa was waiting. "Please sit down we need to talk before we do the exam." Worriedly they both say down, Sami held her husband's hand as if it were her only lifeline. Noticing her reaction the doctor instantly reassured her that there was nothing wrong, just a surprise. "When I was looking at your test results I noticed that your numbers were showing signs that you may be pregnant with more than one baby." She let that sink in while she began setting up the ultrasound machine.

Sami climbed up on the table still in shock over what her doctor just said. Another set of twins? Could they handle that? I guess they would find out before long. It took a few minutes before the doctor was able to get a clear picture and then she turned the monitor towards them. "Does that show if we are having twins?" "Mrs. DiMera, it does not show you are having twins." Before she could breath a sigh of relief her doctor finished, "It's triplets, see? Strong heartbeats all of them. Did you want to know gender?" They looked at each other for a moment before decided yes. "Okay, so if they behave we can check that today", after a minute she managed to tell them they were having two girls and a boy.

While Sami wiped the goop off her stomach she listened to her doctor tell her all facts. "Just remember to take it easy, little stress as possible." Sami just laughed reminding Dr Rosa how many children were at home waiting for her. After being told to do her best, Sami and EJ walked out and set up their next appointment before leaving to head home. They drove the whole way in silence neither sure what to say until they pulled in the driveway. "Wow there are more cars here than I had expected." "Well, they knew we were finding out today. I guess we should have expected this to happen." Sitting for a few extra minutes to catch her bearings Sami let EJ escort her into their home.

Marlena was the first to greet them since she was playing hide and seek with all the kids and was it. After hugging her mother Sami wandered into the kitchen to get some water and a snack. Will was standing there eager to hear the news about his newest sibling. "We will tell everyone together apparently", EJ chuckled as he called everyone to gather in the living room. Surrounded by all of their family, they began to tell them what happened at the appointment. When they had finished speaking, the room was silent, wow Sami thought I never thought I could make the entire family speechless.

The silence didn't last long though before everyone was laughing and congratulating them. Of course then they all started offering advice on anything and everything and it was wearing her out. "Okay everyone, I think Mom needs some rest so why doesn't everyone go home now so she can take a nap? I promise she will talk to you all later after she rests." Sami loved how Will had become such an amazing man, he stepped right up and made sure no one stressed her out anymore. After everyone had finally left, Sami hugged her children before following Will's advice to actually go take a nap.

While she lay there in her bed, Sami began to wonder if maybe it was time to reach out to Stefano again. He had respected their wishes and kept his distance, only sending presents for his grandchildren on special occasions and via messenger service. After all the help he had given them with everything Sami felt he should know she was at least pregnant with his grandchildren again. Before she could change her mind Sami called him, he answered on the third ring. "I am surprised to get your call Samantha. Is everything alright with the children?" "Stefano, calm down everyone is fine. I wanted to let you know some news that is going on with us all right now. EJ and I are expecting triplets, due in about 14 weeks, two girls and a boy." There was silence on the other for a long time. "Does this change anything?" He didn't sound angry just a mixture of curious and hopeful.

"I'm not sure Stefano, I do have to talk to EJ about it. He doesn't know that I decided to call you he is downstairs with the children I was taking a rest. I know you have helped us no questions asked and respected our wishes and maybe things might change but like I said it's something that we need to discuss." "I understand but thank you Samantha for thinking about me. I am overjoyed at the thought of three more beautiful grandchildren running around." After saying goodbye, she hung up only to see EJ standing in the doorway. Instead of being angry in any way he simply walked to the bed and sat down wrapping his arms around her. "Thank you for thinking of him I am sure he is happy to have heard it from us and not some stranger on the street."

Snuggling into her husband Sami told him where her mind was where Stefano was concerned. They spent a good portion of the afternoon discussing options and finally making their decision. Crawling out of bed they wandered downstairs to find Will and Sonny had made dinner for everyone and the children were all eating already. Sami kissed each of her children on the head and hugged her oldest, "This all smells so amazing, thank you both." Will gestured for them to sit and began filling them in on ideas for the nursery. "I figure they will obviously all share a room until they were older and we would have plenty of time to get the other rooms done up. Neutral is kind of where I was going for color, I mean I know it is fully up to you but we want you to relax so let us do it."

Agreeing with her son she told him he had complete command about the nursery it was all him. Sami's cell phone started ringing, seeing it was Stefano Sami hesitated before answering. He wanted to let them know that his daughter Kristen was coming to town for a visit and was hoping they would let her see the children. "When she comes to town call me and we will bring them to the mansion to see you both. I have to go though eating dinner, goodbye Stefano." She hung up to his silence as well as Will's, "I thought we were done with him?" EJ stepped in, "After he helped up to learn the truth about Allie and then finding her, we decided to give him a chance." Understanding what they were saying he only asked that he not me made to go. "No one who doesn't want to go has to. Kristen is coming to town though so it seems like a good opportunity."

The doorbell rang and before Sami could try to get it Sonny got up to see who was there. Chad was on the other side of the door with his pretty new girlfriend on his arm. Melanie Jonas was not one of EJ's favorite people but she seemed to make his brother happy. Sami told them both to sit down and join them for dinner, there was plenty to go around. Once seated, Chad began to fill EJ in on why he was there, telling him about their father's request. "A good thing to keep in mind is don't automatically dismiss anything he offers but don't accept right away. Years of experience has taught me that sometimes Father is genuine but other times there is a price. More than likely he wants you to move in to the mansion because he is alone now. That house can be pretty lonely unless it's filled with people. Just lay down your ground rules and if you like the idea do it."

They finished their meal with happy chatter about things going on at the children's school and upcoming renovations on the house. With four children and three more on the way they planned to make the kitchen a little bigger so everyone can fit together, plus whatever Will planned for the nursery. After dinner Sami took Sydney and Allie up for their baths and let Johnny have his guy time with Daddy. Allie all sweetly looked up at her mom and asked her if she could help name one of the new babies. Thinking it was a great idea she said okay and then helped her get cleaned up. Once they were in the pajamas Sami took them downstairs for their bedtime story so they could all read together. EJ came down with Johnny all cleaned up and ready for bed a few minutes later, and they all climbed on the couch together. Four stories later, Sydney was out and Johnny and Allie were drifting off. With Will and Sonny's help they took all three upstairs and tucked them into their beds, kissed them goodnight and shut the doors.

"Well we are going to go out and see a movie or something not sure just yet." "Have fun and thank you both again for all your help today." Hugging them both, Sami watched her son walk out the front door laughing and trying to decide what they should do. EJ led his wife to the couch where they curled up and just held on to each other and talked about anything and everything. Sami couldn't believe where he life had gone for once everything was going great and she was happy. She knew she was lucky to have EJ after everything that had happened between them, but they were still able to just chat about anything and still not be bored. He said it was because there was nothing boring about either of them and all he had to do was look into her eyes and he would fall in love again and again.

"So Allie asked if she could help name one of the babies and I told her sure." Chuckling, EJ told her Johnny had asked the same thing. "We do need to come up with some names though at least some idea on some." "I will pick up a baby book of names tomorrow so we have ideas. Now how about we go to sleep ourselves I for one am exhausted my dear." Kissing her gently he helped her up off the couch and walked up the stairs never letting go of her arm. Sami almost fell asleep walking to their room, being pregnant really makes a woman tired. It wasn't long after she hit the pillow before she was out and slept soundly the entire night.

The sun was very bright when Sami woke up the next morning, she heard laughing and the sounds of construction. Crawling out of bed, she put on her robe before peeking out into the hallway. She could smell the fresh coffee and something cooking downstairs, but could hear her husband joking with someone at the end of the hall. After going back and getting dressed before venturing out to see what all was going on, Sami found EJ standing outside what would be the nursery. "Darling, I was hoping you would sleep a little longer, you need your rest." "I know but also you remember I have done this before EJ" she just chuckled as she headed downstairs. There she grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee, reminding herself only allowed one cup now. Grabbing the newspaper and some fruit she went to sit and relax for a bit.

Fifteen minutes later she heard the crash and a lot of cursing. Walking as quickly and carefully as she could Sami hurried towards the sound. She found EJ in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, "Loose floorboard, glad it was me and not you. MIKE! Can you fix that floorboard right near the top of the stairs? Nearly broke my neck trying to get downstairs, thanks." Seeing his wife's frantic and anxious face her quickly went to work on assuring her that he was perfectly fine. He led her back towards the kitchen where he decided to make her an omelet and some toast. After eating everything in sight, Sami asked EJ if he wanted to go visit his mother today. Debating it for a few minutes he decided that it would be something fun to do and left the construction crew to their work under Will's supervision.

Susan had found a quaint apartment to stay in for a short time while she stayed in Salem visiting family. Sami had tried to convince her she could move in above the family pub but Susan liked the idea of an apartment, felt a bit more permanent she said. EJ personally liked that she wanted to be in a place that might make her decide to stay for good, he missed her so much over the years. "I have a surprise for you Elvis, Edmund is coming for a visit tomorrow he might stay a few weeks." This news just made EJ even happier, he loved his stepfather so much and couldn't wait for him to meet his family. They stayed a bit longer before they headed to pick the children up from school.

Allie ran up to the car crying, "Honey what is wrong? Where is your brother?" Without looking up from her lap she said, "He is in the principal's office they want to talk to you Mommy." Sami climbed out of the car and walked the long walk inside to find out why her child was in trouble. Inside she found Johnny sitting talking to the principal, "Oh good, Mrs. DiMera please have a seat. I was just talking to Johnny about why it is not okay to fight for any reason." Looking at Johnny as she spoke Sami asked what had happened. "Some kids were being mean to Allie, they called her a mean word and told her you and Daddy were stupid for not knowing the truth. So I punched the bigger one and he fell and started crying." Suppressing the urge to smile at her son, Sami faced the principal and told him that they would punish him properly. "That may be so, however he is suspended for five days for the fight."

They walked out to the car and Sami told EJ she would fill him in when they got home and away from little ears. Once home Allie ran straight to her room and Sami followed close behind. "Sweetie, can I come in? Please I just want to talk to you." After hearing a timid okay she slowly opened the door to see her daughter laying facedown on her bed crying silent tears. Instinctively she walked to her daughter and held her until the tears stopped , then wiped them away from her eyes. "Allie, can you tell me what happened today? What did that boy call you?" "It wasn't a boy who was picking on me it was his sister, but she is little and her brother was telling her to call me it. So Johnny hit him and now he is in big trouble and it's all because of stupid me." "Hold on now, first and foremost you are not stupid. You happen to be one of the smartest nine year olds I know and those kids are just bullies. Can you tell me the word they used? I promise as long as you only say it this once you can't get into any trouble."

Fury spread throughout Sami's body as she heard her sweet little girl repeat the hateful and hurtful words that she had endured that day. All she could do was hold her little girl for as long as she let her. Allie told her mom she was hungry so Sami decided they needed a night out for dinner as a family and after calling Will they agreed to meet up at the Pub. She asked Allie to wash up and they would be leaving in about five minutes, then she went to find her husband. As she approached EJ opened his arms to hold her seeing she was upset, but when he asked her what had been said she shook her head. "It's too awful to repeat, and to think that children knew those words and would say them to her. It broke my heart to hear those words come out of her little mouth, for her to hear them. Johnny of course can't go to school all next week, but I can't punish him for hitting that boy, I just can't." EJ desperately wanted to know what had hurt his family so much so he convinced her to write it out later after the children were in bed.

As his wife lay sleeping in their bed, EJ reread the words on the page in front of him. Tears were in his eyes as he read them for what had to be the hundredth time since Sami wrote it all down. Now he understood why she refused to say the words, how could a child say all these things to another child? He had been debating going into the school and finding out who the other child's parents were and sitting them down for a chat. This child who hurt his daughter and got his son in trouble, had to have learned this hate from the parents. Sami stirred and woke up a little bit, "Honey come to bed, the words won't change and nothing can be done tonight. Please I just want to be next to you, first thing in the morning we can do whatever you want." Hesitantly, he crossed the room and climbed in next to her, after wrapping his arms around her he fell into a restless sleep.

Will was up before everyone the next morning, he wanted to know what had gotten everyone so upset yesterday. He knew Johnny got in trouble in school and it had something to do with Allie but he didn't know details, his mother promised to tell him this morning. EJ stirred first and came downstairs carrying a piece of paper and reading it for what was obviously not the first time. The frown on his face told Will that whatever happened yesterday was on that paper and it was bad. Without a word EJ handed the paper to Will as he grabbed his coffee, as Will read he felt the tears prick his eyes. "What the hell is this? This is what happened yesterday, why everyone was so heartbroken and angry?" "Yes, those words were spoken to your sister by a girl at school, her big brother told her to say it all so Johnny hit him. Apparently enough to cause the bigger boy to be on the ground and crying. After reading this your mother and I agree we won't punish Johnny, but he can't go to school all next week."

Sami came down the stairs holding Sydney and talking on her phone to her mother. "Yes Mom, I understand that there is no good reason to punch anyone but you don't know the circumstances. Oh, his parents called you? Well then tell them to call me, we want a word with them after the words out of their children's mouths yesterday which caused all of this mess. I know…..yes but, listen to me, I am his mother and while I don't approve of violence I can't be anything but proud of him for punching that boy. Can we talk later I have to get the kids few before we go over to Belle's new house. We promised to come help her paint and get Claire's new room done. Bye mom!" She hung up and then glanced at her husband and son. "She called me I didn't call her, and since I am sure you both heard I won't repeat what we discussed."

Settling Sydney into her chair, Sami went to get her some yogurt for breakfast. Pulling the granola out of the cupboard she poured some into a small bowl and gave that and the yogurt to Sydney with a spoon so she could mix it herself. Ah the joys of being little and very few concerns, as she thought that Sami realized Sydney was starting school in the fall that was only a few months off. Seeing the looking come across her face, EJ walked over and whispered to her asking if she was okay. "I'm fine, well as fine as can be, EJ with Sydney starting school in the fall, and the problems we just had, I've been thinking…Maybe we should switch the schools for them all, maybe that private school I'm sure bullying is not as bad there." EJ realized his wife was truly concerned and told her he was fine with the idea if Allie and Johnny were fine with it.

When they came downstairs, Will helped them get their breakfast and once seated EJ and Sami brought up the subject. "Does this mean we don't have to deal with those mean kids anymore?" Allie seemed happy with the idea even if that meant leaving her friends. With it decided that in the fall all three would go to the new school together they finished their breakfasts before deciding what to do for the day. Will stayed at the house working on the nursery, with Sonny's help he hoped to have it ready for the furniture to go in before the end of the weekend. Sami and EJ took the children to Belle's new house where they started instantly chasing Claire around. Smiling at their children, Sami and Belle hugged while EJ went to go help Shawn. Belle handed Sami some fabric that she had sewn for curtains in the rooms already painted and they went to hang them up. "So Mom called me this morning….she told me about Johnny's fight yesterday at school. Also how you weren't going to punish him, I told her that I am sure you have a good reason for it and it was your business so she isn't talking to me at the moment."

"Yeah, she wasn't happy with me either this morning. She probably only called you to try to convince you to get me to do something to Johnny about it but it backfired." After they got the curtains all up Sami and Belle went to check on the men. As they came up the stairs Sami overheard EJ telling Shawn what had been said. Belle froze in her tracks as she heard the details, "I can't believe this, poor Allie, and Johnny. He did the right thing standing up for his sister and family." EJ and Sami told Belle how they planned to switch to the private school starting next school year. "Probably a good idea with Sydney starting then too and of course the new babies will be here by then too, or not long after. The less stress you all have to endure the better, do either of them know what those words mean?" Sami explained that the brother made sure they both knew what it all meant.

When they all got home, the children were so tired they went straight to bed. EJ told Sami he had a proposition for her, the day school let out they take the children and Belle and Shawn and Claire and go to the island for a while. Shawn could use the jet to get back and forth when needed but mainly gone for the whole summer. Loving the idea Sami agreed to call Belle in the morning and pitch the idea. Since the kids were all in bed, Sami and EJ decided to head that way themselves and it wasn't long before the entire house was silent. Will walked into a dark and quiet house, knowing everyone was home but must be sleeping he crept quietly upstairs and into the nursery to see if he could put the carpet in. Sure enough the walls were dry and it was set to put in the brand new carpet he had bought. Sonny helped Will bring it up the stairs and put it in the room after they installed the carpet they stepped back grinning, they were going to love this.

To be continued….


End file.
